Heinrich von und zum Velde

"Hence Hans Wilhelm Schaffer, once of Marburg and later Fencing Master on Sora, did quite well in making the Salvatorian Art of Fence known in print to his countrymen, the Germans and other Scholars, and intended it to be quite faithful; but as he himself had not been instructed directly by Hernn Salvator as a Scholar, but only had to learn at Hernn Salvators's fencing sale as a Prevost through studious pair practice, he did not author his book according to rules into a fencing instruction, and not alone paid no attention to the order of such instruction, but simply wrote up a pile of lessons out of the whole Art of Fencing, and sometimes turned the foremost hindmost, which the noble Herr von und zum Velde, my former and never adequately praised Master, has proven in a special publication and the fencing book in itself: That hence, the Herrn Salvator's fame may have been augmented, but was not adorned with suitable splendor...

"...With much more vigorous reason and with much better right did propagate above-mentioned Herrn Salvator Fabris' Art of Fencing a Signor Herman, who despite being a German, was alone out of all his proteges considered worthy enough by Herrn Salvator to bequeath to him on his deathbed his salle and entrust him with all present students; which he willingly accepted and lived up to his instruction, despite fickle luck only wishing to grant such honor for but a few months to the Germans in Guelf-land, as above-mentioned Signor Herman, shortly after the demise of his Master, was forced to follow him into the grave because of a cowardly assassin. But despite the fact that the murderer was a lover of the Art, and indeed only a short time before was Signor Herman's mantenitore, or, in German: Vorfechter, at his salle, there is no doubt that he committed this murder out of envy against his comrade; after committing the deed, he happily escaped, and since then nobody has heard where he might reside; But I understand from talking to a number of old Cavaliers, that in their youth they were taught in nearly such way by one calling himself Signor Heinrich, and I think this might be the same person, as my calculations of the time coincides, and because the murderer's name, too, was Heinrich, who by the way was related rather closely to Herrn Salvator on his mother's side.

"This Murder, and the loss of two such valiant fencing masters, was mourned by all cavaliers present, and especially by the noble Herr Heinrich von und zum Felde, who even with time passing never could praise or mourn the redoubtable Signor Herman enough in his discourses, especially he used to quote in his instruction, both in writing and orally, the teachings of Herrn Salvator and Herrn Herman. And it is this Herr Heinrich von und zum Velde, to whose memory I and all Germans have reason to thank that such Art is continued pure and unadulterated, to the amazement of today' s Italian fencing masters, as those Cavaliers trained in such manner say and attest to who have traveled there and returned." ~ Johann Joachim Hynitzsch, 1677

• Eigentliche Beschreibung des Stoßfechtens (MS Dresd.C.13)
• Three treatises on the art of fencing (Add MS 17533)

The following is a list of publications containing scans, transcriptions, and translations relevant to this article, as well as published peer-reviewed research.

• Johann Georg Pascha; Heinrich von und zum Velde (2018). Proper Description of Thrust-Fencing with the Single Rapier. Trans. by Reinier van Noort; Jan Schäfer. Glasgow: Fallen Rook Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9934216-7-9.
• Van Noort, Reinier; Jan Schäfer (2017). "An analysis and comparison of two German thrust-fencing manuscripts." Acta Periodica Duellatorum 5(1): 63-74. doi:10.36950/apd-2017-002.